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Davis baseball to end season against the Gauchos

Sports Editor

May 23, 2013

Davis baseball to end season against the Gauchos

Teams: UC Davis vs UC Santa Barbara
Records: Aggies, 19-34 (5-19); Gauchos, 31-22 (14-10)
Where: Dobbins Stadium — Davis, Calif.
When: May 23 at 2:30 p.m.; May 24 at 2:30 p.m.; May 25 at 1 p.m.
Who to watch? Coming off their final road games of the season, the Aggies are stinging from the sweep from Hawai’i last weekend. The Aggies must rebound as they are headed back home to play their final games of the season against UC Santa Barbara.

One significant contributor to the Aggies has been sophomore Tino Lipson. Lipson moved from shortstop to outfield at the beginning of the season, and his versatile offensive and defensive skill set have been a significant contribution to the team. In fact, Lipson has seen much playing time at many different positions, including shortstop, left field, designated hitter and second base.

Over Lipson’s last 14 games, he has improved his batting average to .340 — second best on the team — and is hitting a team-best .407 in conference play. It has been all about getting on bases and wreaking havoc on the basepaths for Lipson, as 43 of his 48 at-bats have been singles, and he has recorded 10 hits in his last 16 at-bats. He also has a team-high nine stolen bases.

Did you know: UC Davis leads the Big West with a .289 team batting average. The Aggies have been getting their hits featuring four players batting .300 or better, which include junior Nick Lynch, sophomore Tino Lipson, senior Austin Logan and junior Steven Patterson.

The Aggies also have three players hitting at over .280. Freshman pitcher Spencer Henderson has also been getting it done as a utility player, hitting .400 in his last 30 at-bats including a double, a triple, two RBI and seven runs scored.

Preview: The Aggies are finally back home after completing their final road matchups against Hawai’i, and now hope to finish out the season with a series win against the Gauchos. UC Davis has been able to hold its own in the Big West offensively, posting a conference leading .289 batting average and totalling 512 hits over the last 50 games.

With the Aggies heading back to Dobbins Stadium, they can look back at their seven-game road span with some positivity. Although winning only three of their seven games, the Aggies have shown flashes of brilliance.

UC Davis wins have included a series victory at Pacific and an offensive slugfest at St. Mary’s, showing that the Aggies are still fighting until the end. A highlight of their last seven games was a 2-0 shutout of Pacific, which saw junior pitcher Harry Stanwyck pitching the Aggies’ first shutout of his career.

While coach Vaughn saw this shutout as no surprise, it may remain quite a surprise for the rest of the conference, as Aggie pitching has a 5.25 team ERA. However, UC Davis has remained confident in its five freshmen arms throughout the season. During the seven-game road span, freshman Dan Gallagher was able to pick up his first career victory over St. Mary’s in a 16-12 shootout.

As the Gauchos head to Davis, a series win will not come easy for the Aggies. UCSB has several players the Aggies will need to watch out for, including freshman pitcher Robby Nesovic. Although maintaining an ERA of 5.48, Nesovic has been a source of offense for the Gauchos. Posting a team-leading batting average of .344 and boasting a .341 conference batting average, Nesovic has the potential to be a serious issue for the Aggies’ pitching staff.

The Aggies’ offensive prowess will also be challenged against a very effective Gaucho pitching rotation which includes freshman Dylan Hecht, who, in 26 games pitched, has an ERA of just under 2.00, and sophomore Austin Pettibone, who currently has a 3.00 ERA and leads the pitching rotation with 51 strikeouts.

With the Aggies concluding the season, this will be an emotional set of final games for seniors Seth Batty, Ben Burke, Patrick Hennessey, Paul Politi, Mike Mazzara, C.J. Blom and Austin Logan.

As UC Davis baseball heads into these final three games of the 2012-13 season, the Aggies hope for a successful send-off for the seniors but also hope the game will be a stepping stone for next year.

— Shaun Moncada

Review: Daft Punk’s ‘Random Access Memories’

Arts & Culture

Arts Editor

May 23, 2013

Review: Daft Punk’s ‘Random Access Memories’

CD: Random Access Memories
Artist: Daft Punk

RATING: 4.5/5
FOR FANS OF: Chic, Kool & The Gang, Saturday Night Fever
CHECK THESE TRACKS: “Fragments of Time,” “Get Lucky,” “Contact”

Hype can be a painful thing.

Daft Punk’s new album, Random Access Memories, was hyped up as though it were the “Second Coming of Music.” The advertising campaign included a massive unveiling of the album cover, billboards, TV commercials with 15 second clips of one song and a series of interviews with people who worked on the album. In addition, this was the first actual studio album done by the reclusive robots in eight years.

All of this hype combined to create an imaginary album in my mind that nothing could match. The album doesn’t suck, but its inability to live up to the hype colored my opinion of the album.

RAM abandons the electronic sound of the band’s previous three albums in favor of a disco sound. This results in an album that sounds more like something Daft Punk made for themselves than for an audience.

The album also features a ton of artistically successful collaborations. Disco pioneer Nile Rodgers plays guitar on three songs, “Rainbow Connection” songwriter Paul Williams wrote and performed a song and dance music pioneer Giorgio Moroder contributes his life story to a track. There are also appearances from contemporary musicians Pharrell, Julian Casablancas and Panda Bear.

The sound quality of the album deserves special mention. RAM is one of the best sounding albums I’ve ever heard, even through low quality .mp3 files. The bass guitar on “The Game of Love” and “Lose Yourself to Dance” as well as the guitar on “Fragments of Time” wowed me with their nuance.

It’s not entirely perfect, however. Some of the songs (with “Lose Yourself to Dance” in particular) go on for too long. In addition, the track sequencing could’ve been improved, as “The Game of Love” is too slow to be the second track. The biggest problem is that it was overhyped.

Overall, the album is great. Daft Punk supposedly began working on this alongside the TRON: Legacy soundtrack, and the amount of time and dedication they spent on it really paid off.

However, it is difficult to recommend to people unless they have an open mind about music. My family recently told me that disco sucks, so they would probably hate RAM. If you’re okay with that sound, go for it.

JOHN KESLER can be reached at arts@theaggie.org.

Walking a mile in her feet

Features

Features Editor

May 23, 2013

Elena Piotter may appear to be just another first-year international relations major, but if you look closely, you can notice one noteworthy feature about her, and it happens to be her feet.

Piotter lives her life without the comforts and benefits of shoes, and she does not regret it in the slightest.

“To be completely honest, my number one reason for not wearing shoes is that it is more comfortable,” Piotter said.

Piotter’s unusual journey started in high school when she participated in a national campaign for Toms Shoes called One Day without Shoes. The annual event hopes to raise awareness and funds for children’s health and education. Piotter hoped to join the thousands around the globe hoping to stand on this important issue.

When she arrived at school free of footwear, however, a campus security guard told her to put on shoes in compliance with state law.

“After that, I had always wanted to go shoeless full time, so when I came to Davis, I thought it would be such a large institution that I could just do it and it wouldn’t be noticed by anyone,” Piotter said.

In an email interview, assistant director for Student Judicial Affairs Colette Duño confirmed that there is no student conduct policy specific to wearing shoes on campus. This opens the door for Piotter and many other students to express themselves as they see fit.

Her decision hasn’t come without resistance, however. Every time she enters the Cuarto Dining Commons, Piotter must join the remainder of society and put on shoes.

Branden Petitt, the director of the Office of Student Development, ensures that the dining policy is not meant to stifle creativity or freedom of expression.

“We use the policy to promote public safety and to maintain a certain level of decorum. We are very concerned that guests could possibly step on objects causing injury if stepped on by someone who is barefoot,” Petitt said.

That didn’t stop Piotter earlier this year, however.

“I was told it was a safety hazard and it wasn’t sanitary. I’ve gotten pretty close to getting written up,” she said.

Nonetheless, other than a few incidents with Student Housing, she has experienced no problems from the campus. And Piotter assures any naysayers that the practice is completely safe.

“You develop a sixth sense for seeing glass — I’ve only stepped in glass twice. You just adapt. I walk along the white lines on pavement and try not to get off my bike until I am as close as I can get to my destination,” Piotter said.

Other concerns surrounding her decision stem from the possible sanitary complications.

“A lot of people say it’s unsanitary, but if you think about it, you go into stores and touch things with your hands and pick up germs. But your feet don’t actually touch anything … it’s not like you are touching your face with your feet,” she said.

Piotter also offers her advice for those considering her lifestyle. Whatever your motivation for trying it out, this unusual lifestyle can offer adventure, an ecological alternative or even a sense of rebellion to an otherwise humdrum life.

“Definitely try it out; you’ll feel hardcore,” Piotter said.

MARK BURNSIDE can be reached at features@theaggie.org.

Recent UC graduate gains fame as “Gollum Sings” web celebrity

Arts & Culture

Arts Editor

May 23, 2013

Recent UC graduate gains fame as “Gollum Sings” web celebrity

In mid-February, class of 2011 alumnus Ian James Walters uploaded a vocal rendition of “I Dreamed a Dream” (from the musical Les Miserables) to the popular video-hosting website YouTube. Despite having to contend with a near-infinite sea of covers, karaokes and lip-syncs, this modest four-minute cover quickly racked up a 1 million-view count, attracting the attention of online viral entertainment hub Buzzfeed along with countless other fans.

Walters’ stroke of inspiration was to sing the emotionally charged number through the persona and vocal stylings of Gollum, the ghoulish hobbit-creature most well-known from Peter Jackson’s film adaptations of The Lord of the Rings. While this odd combination may have made for a dubious comedy pitch, it was aimed straight at the internet’s appetite for bizarre humor.

“It isn’t often that I do something actually funny,” Walters said, explaining his frame of mind when stumbling across his talent a few months ago. “It started out as a joke between me and my friend.”

After both singing along to the Les Mis soundtrack sung by Anne Hathaway in anticipation of the recent film, Walters broke into the unnerving style of Tolkien’s fantasy character, at which point his friend urged him to record it.

The first video, which is now more than halfway to reaching 2 million views, started trending heavily while Walters was away on a climbing trip in Oregon. After returning a week later, he was surprised to find he’d become a verified internet celebrity. Soon after that, he was approached by Buzzfeed to make a similar but higher-quality spoof of a popular Top 40 song — in this case, “I Knew You Were Trouble” by Taylor Swift.

Walters enlisted the help of a few of his friends, including fourth-year technocultural studies major Damien Verrett, to film the video on a rocky beach north of San Francisco. Verrett assisted with the shoot and provided the background music. He later filmed and scored a longer skit with Walters, in which Harry Potter (also portrayed by Walters) encounters Gollum and mistakes him for a friendly elf.

As of now, both are planning to work together on new skits as well as the pop music covers.
“Right now we’re working on an original skit,” Verret said. “I think the idea is to branch off from the whole Gollum thing and start making 100 percent original content. I’m excited. It’s hilarious to me that these things are getting a million views when really they’re just videos being made by my friends.”

Daniella Devera, who graduated from UC Davis the same year as Walters, helped film and edit some of his videos.

“It’s just Ian being Ian, but I find it heartening that so many people enjoy that,” Devera said. “His energy can be infectious like that: through the screen, you get to feel like you’re in on his joke, like you’re part of the club, and it’s cool.”

Uninitiated viewers can also be cool and join the club by visiting the Ijameswalters YouTube account, the home of Walters’ creations.

ANDREW RUSSELL can be reached at arts@theaggie.org.

Police Briefs

City News

City Editor

May 23, 2013

SUNDAY May 19
What in carnation …
Someone wanted the police to know that a flowerpot had been removed from their home on La Coruno Street and smashed two doors down, but did not want to file a report.

Brohemian
A guy in a grey tank top, grey shorts, black knee-high socks and black shoes called the police saying he smoked too much weed, had marijuana poisoning and needed their assistance getting home on First Street.

MONDAY May 20
Bit of a bulldozer
A neighbor threatened to run somebody’s kids over with his car on Grambling Court.

Boxer Rebellion
Someone tried to walk through the drive-through at Jack in the Box on G Street, but got upset when he was refused service and punched out the window.

Quite the prick
A realtor found evidence of a squatter in one of his homes on M Street. The squatter left behind a note saying when he would be back, as well as some hypodermic needles.

TUESDAY May 21
Shtick by brick
Someone reported that four kids between the ages of 4 to 9 were climbing on the fence and throwing bricks in their pool on Adrian Drive.

Police briefs are compiled from the City of Davis daily crime bulletins. Contact EINAT GILBOA at city@theaggie.org.

News in Brief: TAPS Parking rates to increase

Campus News

Campus Editor

May 23, 2013

Beginning July 1, Transportation and Parking Services (TAPS) will implement rate increases on all monthly permits, with the exception of the “L” permit. The daily visitor rate will increase from $7 to $8, according to a TAPS news release.

“The 2013-14 rate increases are necessary in order to offset reduced revenues from permit sales over the past four years as well as the increased operating costs of TAPS programs and services. The last parking rate increase was implemented in 2011,” the release stated.

— Muna Sadek

Tech Tips: Never lose your keys

Science & Technology

Science Editor

May 23, 2013

Do you find yourself perpetually losing your keys and getting locked out of your house or apartment? It’s even more troublesome when your roommates are gone for the weekend and there is no one to let you in. You could spend the night making calls, or you could invest in a more convenient way to lock your door.

Instead of keys, use your fingers.

Biometric locks have been around for years, but are only just starting to enter the consumer market. Some people buy them for the added security, as it is nearly impossible to fool a fingerprint lock. Others just buy them for their helpfulness, choosing convenience over convention after misplacing their key ring too many times.

Biometric locks work by reading your unique fingerprint on the lock’s touchpad. It takes a couple seconds to scan and confirm, and then the lock opens and you are in; it is that simple. Simply place your finger back on the scanner to re-lock the door. Most biometric locks even allow you to add multiple prints to the permission list, so that only the people you choose are able to enter.

It seems too good to be true and far too sophisticated to be that simple. Although installation is fairly easy, it is recommended that a professional do it for you. You add your fingerprint to the system by allowing it to be scanned. It is then converted into a numerical algorithm and saved in the lock’s database. Now when you attempt to unlock the door, your fingerprint is scanned and compared with the data stored in the system. Trespassers or unknown fingerprints will not be able to open the door, especially since most fingerprint locks are deadbolts.

Biometric door locks cost anywhere between $200 for a lower-end, standard deadbolt model, and up to $1,000 and above for more advanced, secure systems.

NICOLE NOGA can be reached at science@theaggie.org.

Arts Week

Arts & Culture

Arts Editor

May 23, 2013

FILM
13th Annual UC Davis Film Festival
Thursday, May 23, 8:30 p.m., $7 per night
The Varsity Theatre, 616 Second St.
Student films selected by UC Davis faculty will be featured on the big screen during the second night of the annual festival. The short films include a broad range of subjects, styles and genres and celebrate the creativity and talent of undergraduates and graduates. While awards will be awarded to best films, audience members can participate in a free raffle held in the Varsity Theatre lobby.

MUSIC
Michael Fabiano, tenor, and John Churchwell, piano
Thursday, May 23, 8 p.m., $17.50/$29 student and $35/$58 regular
Jackson Hall, Mondavi Center
Considered one of the most important young voices in opera today, Fabiano has gained global critical acclaim for his commanding stage presence and captivating voice. With John Churchwell accompanying him on the piano, the pair will perform in the Mondavi Center’s Jackson Hall.

Radiation City
Friday, May 24, 9:30 p.m., $7, 21 and over
Sophia’s Thai Kitchen 129 E St.
Radiation City, now touring the country for the release of their new album, earned its reputation as one of the most promising acts coming from Portland, Ore. With influences like Beach House, Flaming Lips, The Beach Boys and Starfucker, this feel-good band’s expanding landscape of new romanticism has caught the attention of folks at NPR and Time.

The Golden Ghosts
Saturday, May 25, 9:30 p.m., $5, 21 and over
Sophia’s Thai Kitchen 129 E St.
This high-energy band brings a classical sensibility and fresh vitality to rock and roll, while drifting between different themes and musical landscapes. Having toured around the U.S., The Golden Ghosts gain musical influences from experiences on the road and the strange characters that they have encountered. The Golden Ghosts now make a stop in Davis, playing in the open patio of Sophia’s Thai Kitchen.

Jordan’s Beard
Wednesday, May 29, 12 p.m., free
UC Davis Quad
Come see Jordan’s Beard, a local Davis band playing a fusion of funk-rock, reggae and hip-hop on the UC Davis Quad. This is the third in the ASUCD Entertainment Council’s series of music performances in the Quad; the series will continue with Alicia Murphy the first week of June. Drop by after class or during lunch to be entertained by these energetic musicians.

Seamoose
Friday, May 24, 10:30 p.m.
Our House, 808 Second St.
Saturday, May 25, 6:30 p.m.
Sudwerk Brewery Dock Store, 2001 Second St.
Enjoy two nights of grooving to this Davis funk band, a local favorite, for their reunion and album release shows. This is likely their last performance in Davis for a long time, so don’t miss out. On Friday, May 24, they will be joined by Big Sticky Mess, a local funk band, and they will play with Tha Dirt Feelin’ at Sudwerk Brewery Dock Store on Saturday, May 25.

THEATER
Dogs of War
Thursday, May 23 to Sunday, May 26, 8 p.m., suggested $5 donation
Wyatt Pavillion
This adaptation of several of Shakespeare’s texts depicts the often cut scenes and characters to examine the representations of war. Directed by Ph.D. candidate in performance studies Josy Miller, the play draws from Shakespeare’s Wars of the Roses plays and uses Renaissance style in a contemporary framework for its production design.

Bullshot Crummand
Friday, May 24, 7 p.m., free
The Davis Art Center Outdoor Stage, 1919 F St.
Acme Theater Company presents a comedy involving a clash between two arch rivals — a tale that evolves into plot twists and mayhem. Enjoy free comedy in the park for the Memorial Day weekend.

OTHER
Author Event: Sylvia’s Secret
Friday, May 24, 7:30 p.m., free
The Avid Reader, 617 Second St.
Local author of the literary mystery novel Scott Evans discusses his latest work. This fictional murder mystery story weaves in historical information about Sylvia Plath’s schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and death to create a dark, intriguing plot.

— Cristina Fries

To nationals they go

Golf
Sports

Sports Editor

May 23, 2013

Once again, the 17th-ranked UC Davis women’s golf team has established their dominance out on the course, qualifying for the NCAA Championships in Athens, Ga. after finishing sixth at the NCAA Central Regionals.

From top to bottom, this roster of eight has demonstrated what it takes to be one of the top-ranked teams in the nation. In particular, the seniors and freshmen have been essential in the team’s path to nationals in Georgia.

“Two big things that the seniors have done are show the underclassmen what Davis golf is all about and are extremely passionate about the game,” said coach Anna Temple.

In her last season as an Aggie, senior Demi Runas was named Big West Player of the Year for the third year in a row. Once again this season, Runas displayed why she deserved that honor, winning individual titles at the Big West Championships and the Golfweek Conference Challenge last September.

To add to these accomplishments, she tied for second in four other tournaments and had eight top-10 finishes overall. With a 72.4 stroke average coming into this last tournament, there are high hopes for another outstanding performance when play opens May 21.

“The level of competition on a daily basis is incredible and allowed for the entire team to get better,” Temple said about the team as a whole.

Other standout players this year include up-and-coming freshman Andrea Wong, who was named Freshman of the Year for the Big West.

Multiple Aggies were also named to All-Big West first team: senior Amy Simanton, sophomore Beverly Vatananugulkit, Wong and Runas. To add to the already stacked team, freshmen Raegan Bremer and Betty Chen received honorable mentions at the ceremony.

UC Davis women’s golf is one of the top performing athletic teams at UC Davis, winning the Big West Championships four years in a row. They hope to continue the success of this year in Georgia.

The penultimate tournament for Division I women’s golf is the next step for a dominant Aggies team. The Aggies are ready to fight for the prized top honor of winning the NCAA Championship. Athletes will face off against a field of 24 teams and six individuals.

May 21 to 24 will be a long week of golf for the entire UC Davis squad, but Temple has confidence in the girls’ abilities.

“Confidence is high. We’re a long-hitting team and this is a long course; it suits us well,” coach Temple said. “With two of our players being seniors and this being their last tournament, they can play knowing they have nothing to lose.”

Unlike most tournaments, the team is playing an extra round in Athens, adding up to 72 holes in all over the course of four days.

“We’re taking it one day at a time,” coach Temple said. “With a long course like this you can make a bogey or two and have a lot of holes to recover and get it back. We just have to make sure we are present in each round.”

The competition this week will be tough, but the Aggies know what they are up against, having already faced three of the top seeds at the tournament earlier this year. However, Temple and the girls know what a great opportunity this is to compete for the highest trophy in the sport.

Play commences on May 21, with the first round of 18 holes being played at the University of Georgia Golf Course.

SLOAN BOETTCHER can be reached at sports@theaggie.org.

Taxation

Opinion

Opinion

May 23, 2013

Editor’s note: For an opposing opinion on this issue, see BRIAN MOEN’s column “Tea Party whiners.”

Recently, it was discovered that the IRS has been targeting conservative groups by arbitrarily delaying their application for tax-exemption because of their policy viewpoints.

This is obviously unacceptable, as even President Obama will admit. But I think this raises a broader question about what the IRS really is and what they are doing.

In my view, the IRS is guilty of theft. And it should come as no surprise that they adopt such non-objective tactics to achieve their ends, since there is no justification for coercive taxation.

In our society today, we do not question the power that government has over us in taking our wealth by force. This is something I think needs to change.

Of course, as I have stated in past columns, taxation is only one means by which our government coerces us — economic regulations and restrictions (such as anti-trust legislation and minimum wage) and wealth redistribution (through welfare programs and entitlement schemes) are the other primary ways.

It might be thought that taxation is justified on the grounds that we have entered into a “social contract” (of the sort suggested by Rousseau and Locke), whereby we implicitly give up some freedoms for the sake of the protection and stability that government grants us.

But such a view is untenable — there is no kind of consent except direct consent from individuals — no one can consent to taxation “on my behalf.”

If your life is yours — if you alone have moral authority over how you will expend your energy, how you will pursue your values and how you will use the wealth that you have earned — then taxation is not justified.

Do not mistake me for the conservatives or libertarians who are vaguely skeptical of all government power — I think government is a necessary good, but we must remind ourselves why we need it. As Thomas Jefferson stated in his inaugural address:

“A wise and frugal government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, which shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government, and this is necessary to close the circle of our felicities.”

In a truly and consistently free society, government would be funded voluntarily — according to the independent rational judgment of individuals who decide to contribute to it.

As to how to implement this in practice, this is an interesting but not insurmountable challenge (there is a lot of good literature in the libertarian tradition on this topic). It should be noted, though, that to fund government in this way does not require the idealistic expectation that there be no freeloaders — in a rational society, most people will see the need for government and be willing to fund it.

I hope people still care enough about the importance of objectivity in law to condemn what the IRS has done. But we must not forget the wider context, that all government coercion should be opposed, no matter how equally it is applied.

TRISTAN DE LIEGE pays his taxes, because otherwise he would go to prison. He can be reached at tflenaerts@ucdavis.edu.

Women’s track and field are champions once again

Sports Editor

May 23, 2013

The championship rounds of any event are usually when athletes either shine in the spotlight or wither under the heat of the moment. The tense nature and finality of the event lends itself to athletes who simply crack under the spotlight.

This, however, was not the case for the UC Davis women’s track and field team, who recently claimed their second straight Big West conference title. The Aggies simply dominated the competition, finishing with a total team score of 172.50 points. This was a full 44 points ahead of second-place finisher UC Santa Barbara.

“Today’s championship outcome serves as a very satisfying conclusion to a year and season structured around the achievement of the highest team objective,” said Aggie coach Drew Wartenburg. “The goal for our women’s team was to bring both a balanced and deep lineup to the conference meet, and event outcomes went as projected for the most part.”

UC Davis did indeed manage to win many events in the championships. The 4×400 relay team reclaimed its title with a time of 3:37.89. The relay team consisted of seniors Lauren Wallace, Kayla Carter, Emily Bush and sophomore Raquel Lambdin.

Wallace had a pretty good day overall, with the 4×400 relay victory and school record-breaking 800-meter race. She ran an impressive 2:03.39 in the 800. Wallace was lengths ahead of the second-place finisher, also a UC Davis runner, junior Shanie Landen, who ran a personal best 2:07.41.

Senior pole vaulter Emily Bush won the conference title and broke the school record, which she previously owned as well, on her way to victory. Bush cleared 4.05 meters, or roughly 13.29 feet, breaking her personal best of 3.80 meters or roughly 12.46 feet.

Things simply fell into place for the Aggies as they dominated their opponents. One such example was sophomore sprinter Ashley Marshall, who could do no wrong in the final heats. She set school records on her way to claiming two conference titles, in the 100- and 200-meter sprints.

Marshall dominated the field in the 100-meter with a time of 11.34 seconds. This time was blazingly fast and tied the Big West conference record time.

After a brief resting period of less than an hour, Marshall came back to race the 200-meter. She came into the race feeling confident, running a 23.33 in the 200-meter qualifying heats the day before the finals.

She did not disappoint, as her time of 23.25 seconds broke the UC Davis record once again. Marshall claimed another conference title with this time. Not only did she claim the title for the women’s 100- and 200-meter, but her time qualified her for the International Association of Athletics Federation’s World Championship in Moscow.

To cap off an amazing season, Marshall was also given the Big West female track Athlete of the Year award. Marshall becomes the second straight Aggie to win the award, joining senior Sarah Sumpter.

UC Davis’ track and field success is not simply a result of having superior athletes, but the success is also a direct reflection of the hard work of the athletes and the guidance of coach Drew Wartenburg. Coach Wartenburg was acknowledged for his hard work as the conference bestowed upon him the Big West Coach of the Year award for the second year in a row. This joins the collection of awards he has earned, including two Big West Coach of the Year awards in cross-country.

Overall, the Aggies have had a fantastic season. With the Big West team title and eight individual Big West titles, UC Davis’ women’s track and field athletes are champions as the season draws to a close. Fans hope that the Aggies will work hard and repeat next year, claiming a possible third straight Big West team title along the way.

KENNETH LING can be reached at sports@theaggie.org.

Online course evaluations being developed

Campus News

Campus Editor

May 23, 2013

A new online course and faculty evaluation survey is currently being developed, similar to the current end-of-course Scantron evaluations that are currently in place. A limited release is expected at the start of 2013-14 school year, with widespread use expected in 2014-15.

Already in place at UC Irvine, UCLA, UC Riverside, UC San Diego UC Santa Cruz, UC Berkeley and UC Santa Barbara. UC Davis is the last major UC campus to implement online course evaluations.

The survey program, Automated Course Evaluations (ACE), is being developed by programmers under the Administrative Application Development Initiative (AADI) at UC Davis.

According to Jeff de Ropp, committee co-chair and department manager of the Chemical Engineering and Materials Science Department, survey content and use will be at the discretion of individual departments.

“We really wanted a flexible system so different departments can do what they want with it,” he said.

The project began to gain traction when the Special Committee on Student Evaluation of Teaching (SET), suggested that online surveys be developed.

AADI reviewed and evaluated the online surveys at various college campuses, including UC Irvine, UC Santa Cruz and UCLA.

The system is being developed to be compatible with the new student portal that will combine all existing portals (SISWeb, MyUCDavis, Class Search Tool) and MyInfoVault, which assists faculty in viewing evaluation results.

“We wanted people to keep doing what they’re doing on paper evaluations and translate that online,” de Ropp said. “Hopefully students will think of it as a more enjoyable way to do evaluations. Doing [them] online is a little more attractive and appealing.”

All survey-taker information will be confidential and any identifying information will be stripped from the survey before the instructor sees it. Additionally, faculty will not be able to view results before they have submitted course grades.

According to de Ropp, the service is being funded by the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES) and will cost approximately $40 a month to host. It will not be mandated on students.

“I think that people in CAES wanted to develop such a system for general use at UC Davis, basically to increase efficiency and reduce costs,” said Benjamin Shaw, AADI co-chair and mechanical and aerospace engineering professor, in an email interview. “Just like with the paper-based evaluations, most courses at UC Davis can be evaluated with ACE. Some exceptions are internships and research courses.”

Scantron course evaluations are processed by one person, de Ropp said, and can take up to six months before results are tabulated. In time, he added, he believes that the online surveys might one day replace hard-copy course evaluations.

Daniel Potter, former SET chair and professor of plant sciences, said his committee was asked by the Academic Senate to consider the implications of having an online survey system in 2010. He said that the teaching evaluations that students complete are the primary source of data on the quality of teaching.

“They give instructors some information on what’s working, what isn’t working, what students like, students’ level of satisfaction,” he said. “It gives students a really important opportunity to express their input, and hopefully realize that it does make a difference.”

De Ropp said that he has heard of some cases where response rates will decrease once paper evaluations become available online, and some universities such as UC Riverside and Stanford University are known to give students incentives for completing them, such as making grades available to students earlier. He said that there are no current plans to implement this.

Online course evaluations are not completely new to UC Davis, as The School of Veterinary Medicine and the School of Education have their own systems in place — the School of Veterinary Medicine has had one since 1997.

Unless written consent is granted from a faculty member, survey results are only available to a limited group of individuals and not to the general public, due to privacy restrictions.

Currently, a number of review cycles have been carried out and a sample survey has been sent to a handful of department listservs.

According to de Ropp, a limited trial could be released in Summer Session II.

“With something this big, there needs to be an extensive trial,” de Ropp said.

MUNA SADEK can be reached at campus@theaggie.org.

Sacramento takes steps to regulate gun sales

City News

City Editor

May 23, 2013

Sacramento is making an effort to reduce the threat of gun violence by placing more regulations on gun sales in the city. Sacramento City Council’s Law and Legislative Committee voted on May 7 to require that new businesses looking to sell firearms acquire special use permits.

“We would require those looking to open a shop to get a special-use permit, so it’s another step in the process,” said Sacramento City Councilmember Jay Schenirer. “It would allow the city to put certain conditions on gun shops and give us more say in where and what is being sold.”

Under the current city code, gun and ammo shops are classified as retail businesses and can open in commercial and industrial zones. The special permit would require new shops to get permission from the city’s Planning and Design Commission.

Schenirer said the restrictions will depend on where someone wants to open up a shop. For example, if it is close to another shop, the commission might deny another shop from opening to prevent overcrowding.

“The only way we can regulate guns in our community is through land use, so the city is taking any opportunity we have,” said Randi Knott, intergovernmental relations officer for the City of Sacramento.

Now that the ordinance has been approved by the city’s Law and Legislative Committee, it will be heard by the city’s Planning Commission by the end of June, Knott said. If it passes through the Planning Commission, city council will hear it in August or September.

“This allows us to make sure there isn’t an over-concentration of stores in an area,” Knott said.

The Sacramento City Council is also looking at a few other measures to regulate gun sales in Sacramento. They are trying to make it illegal to possess high-capacity magazines.

Knott said the City of Los Angeles is trying to pass a similar ordinance, Sacramento will work in that direction depending on its success.

Schenirer also said they are trying to increase education efforts by encouraging current gun owners to keep their firearms in a safe.

“One of the biggest problems we have are gun thefts,” said Sacramento Police Chief Samuel Somers. “Whenever we deal with a lot of the gun violence we have on the street and do a search on the gun, [we] often find it is stolen. I haven’t seen anybody come up with an idea where you have rebates for people buying safes for their homes — something where you are actively putting it out there for people to do a better job of securing their firearms.”

The owners of M&J Gun Trade, a gun shop in Sacramento, said they had no comment when asked about the new ordinance.

Knott said the City of Sacramento is also supporting several state legislature proposals that are currently being debated.

California State Senator Leland Yee is proposing legislation that will ban the use of 3D printers to create firearms.

“Terrorists can make these guns and do some horrible things to an individual and then walk away scot-free, and that is something that is really dangerous,” Yee said in an interview with CBS Sacramento.

Part of the danger, Yee said, is that guns manufactured from 3D printers cannot be traced.

Knott also addressed the fact that preventing further tragedies from gun violence requires mental health services as well.

“In addition to the legislation, it’s also an issue of needing additional mental health services to prevent horrible tragedies resulting from gun violence,” Knott said.

PAAYAL ZAVERI can be reached at city@theaggie.org.

Editorial: Close it up

Opinion

Opinion

May 23, 2013

Over 12,000 members of AFSCME 3299, patient care technical workers, participated in a planned two-day strike of UC Medical Centers due to conflicts regarding the union contract with the University of California. We urge the UC and the union to return to the bargaining table and reach a compromise that is financially responsible and respects both patients and the people that take care of them.

For nearly a year, there have been negotiations over a new labor contract between UC officials and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3299. UC officials believe that the new plan regarding pensions is fair, with more than a dozen other units having agreed to the changes. The union disagrees, saying that the medical centers have unsafe staffing and that officials are more concerned with salaries than fair benefits.

The union proposed a different plan that doesn’t cut new employee long-term benefits among many other compromises, but the UC rejected it.

From 4 a.m. on May 21 to 4 a.m. on May 23, AFSCME 3299 went on strike at the five centers in Sacramento, Los Angeles, Irvine, San Francisco and San Diego. UPTE (University Professional and Technical Employees) sent 3,400 more workers to participate in a one-day sympathy strike.

The Sacramento County Superior Court has already ruled that about 450 employees cannot participate in the walkout, and the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center has already hired 400 temporary workers to cover the shifts of those striking. UC officials have prepared for the strike by canceling elective surgeries and chemotherapy treatments.

This situation should not have escalated this far. It’s time for the UC to start compromising.

Aggie football to start Goulden era

Sports Editor

May 23, 2013

As the Aggies took their celebratory kneel down in a 34-27 victory against Sacramento State in the 59th annual Causeway Classic, Bob Biggs could not have found a better way to end his 20-year run as UC Davis football head coach.

“I do not really know when everything hit me,” said Biggs. “When we took a knee, the world seemed to go by so fast, but slow at the same time. I thought, ‘Wow, this is coming to an end,’ and I wanted to take it all in. It was emotional for the players as well. There are no words to say how much gratitude I have.”

As Biggs ends his coaching career at Davis; leaving behind a career record of 144-85-1, finishing with a 16-4 record of the Causeway Classic, 2009 Great West Conference Coach of the Year, and coaching the Aggies from Division II to the Big Sky Conference, his legacy will be forever etched in Davis lore. Now, newly selected Ron Gould must take the reins of the football program.

“We had three legendary coaches in Jim Sochor, Bob Foster and Bob Biggs,” said Gould. “Replacing those coaches, there is always pressure. But I have the expectation for myself. Everywhere I’ve been, I’ve always had high expectations. Regardless of who the coach is or who I am preceding, I need to make sure my standards are high for myself, for this team.”

Gould will be stepping in to help guide a program which has big ambitions for the future. UC Davis hopes to continue the upward trend of improvement in its football program, maybe even one day being on the same level as some of the other UC schools.

“This university is prestigious,” Gould said. “When you talk about UC’s, you think of some of the pre-eminent schools in the country. I fell in love with this school the first time I visited. I really felt this place has an opportunity to be special.”

Signing a five-year deal, Gould is hopeful for the upcoming season.

“I am very pleased with the team. We were able to implement a new offense as well as a new defense. The players responded well. I am very encouraged and optimistic about the upcoming season,” Gould said.

Ron Gould was a 16-year assistant head coach at California, and becomes just the 16th head coach in the nearly century-long history of the Aggie football program. Gould joins the Aggies after an impressive run at Berkeley, where he developed eventual NFL players such as Marshawn Lynch, Justin Forsett, Jahvid Best, Shane Vereen and Will Ta’ufo’ou, all of whom are contributing significantly to their football teams.

Gould’s work as the running back coach throughout the 1997-2007 seasons produced impressive results for California. The Golden Bears enjoyed their best rushing seasons in more than half a century, averaging 256.8 yards per game, while scoring a school-record 30 rushing touchdowns. Nine of the program’s top 11 individual rushing seasons, as well as six of Cal’s all time-top rushers, were under the direction of Gould.

“What made those players at Cal special was that they trusted me on what to do,” Gould said. “They allowed me to coach them extremely hard, and help them develop their talent. When I told them something wasn’t good enough, there was [no ‘ifs, ands or buts].’ They understood they needed to get better.”

Gould also served NFL internships with the San Francisco 49ers and Green Bay Packers, and was a candidate for the 2010 American Football Coaches Association Assistant Coach of the Year award.

As head coach, Gould made his first recruiting class an impressive one, signing 15 outstanding student-athletes to letters of intent, which include eight on the offensive side of the ball.

Have the Aggies struck coaching gold? Only time will tell, but they sure look to be heading in the right direction.

SHAUN MONCADA can be reached at sports@theaggie.org.

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